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by TayTay4936
Summary: Black Snake Moan fic.  A year after marrying Ronnie, Rae is finally realizing he may not be her heaven afterall.  Rae/Lincoln
1. Introduction

He woke up at the sound of clanging. He had been sleeping peacefully, Angie beside him, when the noise came. He thought it sounded like his radiator.

That reminded him of Rae.

It had been a year since she and Ronnie had gotten married and moved to Knoxville. He still talked to her on the phone, but it wasn't the same. He missed his girl. He didn't realize how empty the house felt with her so far away, even after Angie had moved in, following his divorce being finalized.

He walked as quietly as he could, trying not to wake Angie, and made his way out to the main part of the house. He found someone curled into a ball on the floor, fast asleep and clutching the radiator.

As he stepped closer, he gently pulled their shoulder back so he could get a better look at them.

It seemed like déjà-vu.

Her face was bloody and bruised. Her arms and neck had dark imprints. He couldn't imagine this had happened again.

He gently shook her awake, trying to keep the tears from his eyes.

"Rae?"

TBC

**Author's Note: **Okay, this is my first Black Snake Moan fic, and I believe the first one on this site. I don't even know if anyone would read this, but I felt I had to get my ideas out. I know this chapter is really short, but it's just the intro. I had to see if I could write this at all. Thanks so much for reading.


	2. Memories

At first, she thought she was hallucinating. It wouldn't be the first time. Over the past year, during one of Ronnie's rages, her mind would transport her to another place, another time.

She would be back at Laz's house. Talking with Lincoln, listening to R.L. give her some advice in that reassuring voice that only he had, watching Laz cook.

Before she knew it, her physical body would start voicing her thoughts and she would let a name or two slip from her lips.

That was usually when his force grew to the point where she would pass out from the pain.

She really hadn't seen any of it coming. When they first got married and moved to Knoxville, she was both excited and sad. She knew she would miss the family she had grown to love...She just didn't realize how _much _she would miss them.

And Ronnie didn't like that.

To him, he should be all Rae needed. Like he used to be. Whenever she brought up any of the people she'd left behind, he would become furious.

It started subtly. At first, his voice would just raise. Then he would throw things.

Then he punched her.

It had been a downward spiral ever since.

She didn't quite know where this had come from.

She remembered the guy she first met; the one having an anxiety attack in the bathroom.

That man was long gone now.

Or maybe that was never really him at all. The vision of him turning that gun towards her at Laz's house had never left her, no matter how much she tried to convince herself it had.

* * *

><p>As the fog started to drift from her mind, she realized that this wasn't just another of her mind-tricks. She really was here, back at the house.<p>

Back home.

She tried her best to remember how she had gotten there. All she could see were flashing moments.

Her saying something about visiting Laz. Ronnie's fist. Her falling to the floor and attempting to crawl away.

The last picture she had in her head before she fully came to was the one that struck her the most.

Ronnie's hand grabbing for her instead only managing to clutch the chain.

The chain breaking and falling to the floor.

TBC


	3. Guilt All Around

He carried her over to the sofa, placing her down with all the gentleness in his being.

"Rae? Baby? What happened?" He brought his hand to her cheek, offering the lightest of touches.

The way she immediately turned her head toward it, as if seeking a comfort she had been deprived of, nearly broke his heart.

Letting out a sigh of contentment, she finally turned to look him directly in the eyes. A myriad of emotions whirled behind her eyes.

Shame. Guilt. Yet there was also strength and peace.

"It...it was Ronnie. I told him that I wanted to come back here to visit because I missed y'all so much...but he didn't like the idea. We got into a bit of a fight, but I eventually got away."

Laz's eyes were lit with rage. "Is this the first time he's done this to you?"

The small shake of her head in the negative made him want to vomit.

"No. It wasn't long before it started. At first it was just yelling and then it escalated."

She let out a sigh and tried her best to give the best smile her tired and battered face could muster.

"But it's okay. I'm home now."

She wrapped both of her tiny hands around his and curled herself into a ball.

Her closed eyelids as she drifted off to sleep kept her from seeing the tears that trailed down his cheeks.

* * *

><p>Angie woke up a few hours later to find the other side of the bed empty and cold.<p>

Confused, she walked out into the main part of the house and immediately stopped in her tracks.

She saw Lazarus sleeping while sitting straight up on the floor, his hand clutched between Rae's as she slept on the sofa.

She walked over to Laz and shook his shoulder gently. He slowly opened his eyes and gave her a weak smile.

"Laz, what's going on?" she asked, surprised by Rae's presence, but more confused by Laz's need to sleep out here with her all night.

Her questions seemed to be answered as she got her first real good look at Rae's face.

"Oh, sweet Jesus," she gasped. "What happened to her?"

Laz's face morphed into a look of rage so pure that Angie had never seen it before.

"Ronnie happened," he answered darkly. "He's been doing this to her for the past _year _and she only now was able to get away."

Angie's eyes grew wide and her heart hurt as she brought her eyes back to the sleeping young woman.

She'll admit, with no small amount of shame, that like most of the town, she had had her own preconceptions about Rae. She heard the stories, had seen her from time to time, but it wasn't until that day Laz showed up at her house, explaining Rae's story, that she realized the true harm that comes with making assumptions about people she didn't even truly know.

They had gotten to know each other as they prepared for her wedding to Ronnie, and now she truly had a love for this poor girl. This girl who had been forced to cope with so much in her young life.

"I'm gonna clean her up. I didn't have the heart to do it last night. I could tell all she really wanted to do was sleep. Who knows when the last time she slept peacefully was."

Angie could hear the guilt in his voice clearly. She reached out her hand, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly.

"This isn't your fault, Laz. You couldn't have known. And with not knowing, there was nothing you could have done. The only fault you could possibly have, we all share. We all should have seen what kind of person he really was, but we all just assumed it was your typical anger in a bad situation. If you're at fault, we all are. But we can't dwell on that, Laz. We just gotta do what we can now. We'll protect her and love her and take care of her."

Laz nodded slowly, still not fully believing that he held no more blame than anyone else, but he decided to let the subject drop in favor of focusing on taking care of Rae.

He gently shook her awake as he heard Angie say that she would run Rae a warm bath.

When she came to, he told her what they were doing and then he scooped her up into his arms and carried her into the bathroom. After her bath, Laz and Angie worked together to mend her many cuts and gashes. They got her changed into one of Laz's old shirts, since she had absolutely nothing with her when she'd left the house she shared with Ronnie.

Knowing her body had to still be sore, Angie told her to rest as Laz went outside to think.

As much as he tried to calm down and tell himself it wasn't the Christian thing to do...all he could think of at the moment was murder.

TBC


End file.
